^ I don't play any villains (at least not yet), but I find it insanely boring of you have a villain only for him or her to get mopped up within a few days of their appearance. Then again, I really like long drawn-out conflict.
I can also both agree and disagree with Verad. Villains where you can't understand their motivations at all from any angle can be TERRIFYING - which is why Cthulhu-type monsters and villains are freaky and horrifying as heck. When you can't reason with something or even begin to see through its eyes, it can be incredibly scary and throws things a little off-balance (in a good way). Villains in a friend's RP story are very cthulhu-mythos-like in nature and it gives the RP a very intense, horror-based feel where the villains feel overwhelming.
However, I'm also a huge sucker for Villains you can kind of relate to/identify with just because it can create a huge glorious emotional conflict for both readers (if we're talking about a book) and characters (if we're talking RP) to face a villain where they obviously need to be stopped, but you can relate to them or understand them. That conflict might come from either the fact that you get why they're doing what they're doing and a part of you wishes you didn't have to face off against them at all OR conflict might come from the fact that you can identify with what they're doing and it freaks you out that you can identify with a crazy horrible villainous person int he first place.
Sometimes it can be interesting to have a story where the villain is essentially a mirror to yourself, save for a few minor details that set them on a different course.
I guess it's all in what sort of narrative you're going for.
I can also both agree and disagree with Verad. Villains where you can't understand their motivations at all from any angle can be TERRIFYING - which is why Cthulhu-type monsters and villains are freaky and horrifying as heck. When you can't reason with something or even begin to see through its eyes, it can be incredibly scary and throws things a little off-balance (in a good way). Villains in a friend's RP story are very cthulhu-mythos-like in nature and it gives the RP a very intense, horror-based feel where the villains feel overwhelming.
However, I'm also a huge sucker for Villains you can kind of relate to/identify with just because it can create a huge glorious emotional conflict for both readers (if we're talking about a book) and characters (if we're talking RP) to face a villain where they obviously need to be stopped, but you can relate to them or understand them. That conflict might come from either the fact that you get why they're doing what they're doing and a part of you wishes you didn't have to face off against them at all OR conflict might come from the fact that you can identify with what they're doing and it freaks you out that you can identify with a crazy horrible villainous person int he first place.
Sometimes it can be interesting to have a story where the villain is essentially a mirror to yourself, save for a few minor details that set them on a different course.
I guess it's all in what sort of narrative you're going for.
